Fans spent years calling Sydney Sweeney the modern Marilyn Monroe. They pointed to the blonde hair, the classic bombshell aesthetic, and a deliberate penchant for old Hollywood styling. People loved drawing stylistic comparisons. Nobody expected a literal family tree to back it up.
New research from genealogy platform MyHeritage revealed that Sydney Sweeney and Marilyn Monroe are actually ninth cousins, once removed. The connection sounds distant on paper. It spans four centuries. But it gives an uncanny pop culture parallel a very real paper trail.
Tracing the Four-Century Family Tree
Genealogists didn't just guess at this relationship. They dug through historical records to map out both lineages. The trail leads back to Ezra Perry. He was an early settler in Sandwich, Massachusetts, who lived from approximately 1625 to 1689.
The family lines diverge for hundreds of years before winding up on modern cinema screens. Sydney Sweeney's lineage connects through her father, Steven Sweeney. Marilyn Monroe's ancestry ties back through her biological father, Charles Stanley Gifford.
When you look at genealogy on this scale, ninth cousins share very little actual DNA. Genetic overlap at that distance is practically nonexistent. Still, the historical alignment captures the internet's imagination. You can't script this kind of casting coincidence.
The Modern Bombshell Parallel
Pop culture loves crowning a new icon. For years, critics and red carpet commentators slapped the Marilyn label onto every rising blonde starlet. Most of the time, the comparison feels forced. Publicists lean heavily on nostalgic marketing tropes.
Sweeney leaned into the archetype herself without copying it blindly. She recreated iconic looks, including poses and styling reminiscent of Monroe's famous features. She captured the media attention that defined mid-century stardom. Now, knowing they share a 17th-century Massachusetts ancestor changes the lens entirely. It turns an aesthetic homage into an accidental family tradition.
Why Celebrity Genealogy Studies Capture Our Attention
People love hidden connections. We treat celebrity genealogy like a real-life soap opera. Platforms like MyHeritage routinely drop these findings because audiences eat them up. It humanizes massive stars while feeding our obsession with destiny and coincidence.
Think about how many people share an ancestor from the 1600s. Millions, probably. Most of us will never discover we share a bloodline with a silver screen legend. When it happens to someone already compared to that legend, the internet loses its mind.
You don't need a shared ancestor to build a career in Hollywood. Sweeney carved out her space with breakout roles in Euphoria, The White Lotus, and major box office hits through sheer work ethic. The family tree just serves as a bizarre historical cherry on top.
Take a look at your own family tree sometime. You might find a surprising link hiding behind a colonial census record. Until then, Hollywood's favorite blonde stars share more than just a red carpet aesthetic. They share a piece of American history.
